


First Day Back

by SegaBarrett



Category: Breaking Bad
Genre: Community: cottoncandy_bingo, Fathers & Sons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-18 20:25:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1441717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SegaBarrett/pseuds/SegaBarrett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brock goes back to school after moving in with Jesse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Day Back

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Breaking Bad, and I make no money from this.
> 
> A/N: Written for cotton_candy_bingo, prompt: "Milestone".

Jesse rubbed his thumb along his recently clean-shaven chin, looking down at the bed in front of him. Brock, his newly adopted son, was curled up, his eyes shut tight and his chest rising and falling as he slept.

Jesse smiled, gently shutting the door as he walked out. He always had to make sure Brock was safe, that nothing had somehow come into the house and taken him away. The whole thing still seemed pretty surreal; if it had been up to him, he probably wouldn’t have given himself a kid, honestly. But the social worker had seen it differently. 

Brock was nine years old now. He’d grown a lot since Jesse had seen him last, the day that he broken up with Andrea (he tried not to count the horrible Polaroid that had been pinned to the lab bulletin board to remind him of his place). Now he was slim and relatively tall for his age, but he still had a pudgy face and big brown eyes. He was still quiet, maybe even quieter than before. 

Jesse loved him with all of his heart.

In the morning, Brock would be starting the fourth grade. This would be the first time Jesse had ever seen him off to school. It would actually be the first time that Jesse had ever taken him to school, period.

He felt woefully inept to handle the situation. What exactly was he supposed to do, anyway? What was he supposed to wear? Would the teachers come up to him and want to talk to him, to ask about who he was, what the hell he was doing with Brock?

Jesse rubbed at his eye with his hand, making a small scratch there into a bigger red mark. What was he going to do? Was he even up to this?

He was going to have to go to parent conferences. To help with homework. To know what to say when Brock had nightmares, to know what to do if other kids were mean to him. He couldn’t just sit there playing video games with Brock and reap the rewards of the easy job of being a mother’s boyfriend.

Jesse pressed his fingers against his temple. He didn’t have much of a choice. He couldn’t be Brock’s friend anymore, he had to be his father. His rock. Brock needed him now more than he ever had before.

***

“I hate this shirt,” Brock commented, looking at himself in the mirror. “I don’t want to wear it.”

“You said that about the last four shirts,” Jesse commented, crossing his arms. “Are you sure you don’t just not want to go to school?”

Brock looked up at him with big, tear-filled eyes before looking back down. Jesse’s heart sank.

“Aw, Brock…” He crouched down, pulling him into a hug. “It’s going to be okay, okay? I promise.”

Brock nodded against Jesse’s chest and murmured, “It’s not the same.”

“I know, Brock.” Jesse rubbed his back. “I know it’s not.”

He gently moved Brock back so that he could look into his eyes.

“It’s going to be different. And I’m sorry. But that doesn’t mean that it has to always be bad. You might make a lot of new friends this year and it might be a really good year.”

Brock rubbed at his eyes.

“You promise you won’t leave too?” Brock whispered.

“I promise, Brock.” Jesse had to blink hard to keep from crying. “I promise I’m always going to be here.”

***

Jesse’s car was pulled up right in front of Brock’s school. His hands were shaking on the steering wheel. 

“You ready, kid?” he asked gently, and Brock smiled nervously.

“I guess… If… if it’s really bad, can I come home?”

“Of course you can. I’ll come and get you,” Jesse promised. “But it might not be. Try and stick in there okay? You’re a great kid, and no matter what happens today, you’re always going to be a great kid. Don’t forget that.”

Brock chewed on his lip for a moment, but then he nodded and opened the back door, sticking a leg out and pushing himself out, along with his backpack. He turned around a moment later. 

“Jesse?”

“Yeah Brock?” Jesse inquired.

Brock smiled at him.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Brock.” Jesse’s cheeks flushed. “Have a great first day back. I’m already proud of you.”

Brock blushed and turned forward, walking in towards the school building. He looked so tiny against the big sidewalk and the bigger school, but Jesse felt that he’d do all right. And Jesse would be with him every step of the way.


End file.
